Casualty Snippets
by Curious Rebel
Summary: Short stories about Cal and Ethan
1. Snippet 1 - The Bus Punch

**Casualty, Snippet 1, The Bus Punch, Cal's P.O.V**

I'm kind of confused. Where the heck is Ethan? He's never late for anything, least of all work. I'm about to shake it off as a one time thing, when Ethan walts' in, looking pissed, which is rare since Ethan is usually good at keeping his temper. I decide to ask him where he's been, so I walk over to him.

"Where have you been?" I ask as I reach him. He looks up at me, over his glasses, which again is not a good sign. Then he holds his hand up; which he had been holding tightly with his other one, to reveal his blood-covered knuckles. There are two small round-ish wounds which are quite deep and bleeding badly. Something in me twitches and I feel suddenly very angry.

"What happened?!" I ask, sounding more upset than I meant to. He looks at me strangely and for a minute it looks like I'm in trouble. But then he just answers the question;

"I was on the bus when some guy started shouting about something this girl was doing and refused to sit down unless she was kicked off the bus." He explains, but I'm still confused.

"So what does this have to do with your hand having two holes in it?" I question, gesturing to his hand.

"Well when the driver stopped to ask him to sit down and he still refused" He hesitates," I punched him and told him to shut up," He says with a shrug.

I stop examining his hand and look at him, "You hit him?" I ask, that's NOT like my little brother, "How'd he react?"

"He sat down and shut up," Ethan said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"So you punched him and he just did as you said?"

"What is this 20 questions? Yes that's what happened."

I ruffle his hair, "So my sweet little brother isn't so sweet?"

"Yeah, yeah." He says waving my hand away. Then I realise something.

"Wait so how did you make your hand bleed by punching him?"

"He had two spiked studs in his nose," He answers, waving a hand at the side of his nose. I chuckle, then a moment later," Wait, why were you on the bus?"

"My car broke down, I didn't even get it off the drive." He huffs.

"Aww," I say sarcastically, " Well I have some bad news,"

"What's that?"

"It looks like three of your fingers are broken and the wound from the, uhh, nose piercings is going to take a while to heal. You know what that means."

He groans.

"Looks like you're going to be having some time off."

_**TIME SKIP, 45 MINUTES LATER**_

I wave goodbye to my brother as he leaves to go wait for the taxi to take him back to his house.

"Have fun!" I call after him.

"Very funny!" He calls back not even turning around.

It's very funny that Ethan managed to get time off work just because some guy on the bus had nose studs. But what I think the best part of this whole thing is the fact that it was on the front page of the newspaper the next day: HERO DOCTOR STOPS PUNK ON BUS RAMPAGE.


	2. Snippet 2 - Partner In Crime

**Casualty, Partner In Crime, Third Person P.O.V**

Cal and Ethan have been getting on well lately, it may or may not have something to do with the fact that they are working on a strange case together. A woman with a chest infection, but both brothers suspected that it was more than something as plain as that. So Connie agreed to let them investigate more - she thought it would be a good way to keep them on good terms and have less risk of one of there infamous arguments. Also she thinks they are very sweet caring brothers really, not that she would tell anyone that.

"So where's your partner in crime?" Lofty asks as he and Cal stride down a corridor towards the ED.

"My what?" Cal asks, clearly distracted by his and his brother's case. Lofty sighs.

"Your brother," He says in a irritated tone.

"Right here." Ethan says, coming out of nowhere - scaring his brother and making him jump.

"You scared me!" Cal exclaims, a hand over his heart. Ethan grins cheekily.

Ofcourse the two estranged brothers solved the woman's problem when they put their two brilliant minds together.

At the end of the day, the duo walk out of the hospital, laughing merrily together. But their laughter comes to an end as they reach the staff car park. Everything was as it should be except;

"Where's my car?" Ethan asks.

"You mean where are our cars." Cal corrects, staring at the spot where he had left his car that morning. Then he noticed something at his feet. He bent down and picked it up.

"What's that?" His brother asks pointing to the envelope in his hand. Cal shrugs in reply. He tears it open carefully and pulls out none other than their car keys.

"I was wondering where my car keys went." Ethan says as Cal passes them to him. Ethan sticks his hand into the envelope and pulls out a folded piece of paper. They look knowingly at eachother as he unfolds it. It's a note.

"Your cars are at your houses. Enjoy your walk home. Not from Lofty, Robyn and Max" Ethan reads. The two chuckle.

"Well looks like we're walking home." Cal states. They grin at eachother and set off down the road, walking closely side-by-side...


	3. Snippet 3 - Non-Mutual

**Casualty, Snippet 3, Non-Mutual, Cal's P.O.V**

"I think it might be infected, but I think I'm going to need a second opinion." I say as I examine a women's head - which she had hurt when she fell down the stairs, but hadn't come to the hospital, "You should really of come in, you needed stitches."

"Couldn't you just stitch it up now?" She asks, sounding bored. I raise an eyebrow, but manage to hide it.

"Afraid not," I squint carefully at the wound,"Yeah, I'm going to need a second opinion. Hold on," I say as I look round, I spot Ethan at the other end of the room. I quickly jog over to him, "Ethan, are you busy?" I ask, standing infront of him. He looks up from the file he was reading

"No, why?" He asks.

"I need a second opinion, on a head injury, I think it might be infected," I say as we walk over to the bed, where the woman, Ally, is sitting. When she looks at Ethan a dreamy look floats into her eyes, but Ethan doesn't even give her a second glance. This is going to be funny.

"This is-" I begin, but I'm cut off;

"Ally, Ally Johnson." She says, rather quickly, sticking her hand out.

"Dr. Hardy," Ethan says with a smile, shaking her hand without hesitation. But anyone who knows him well - like I do - can see he's extremely uncomfortable. As his brother it's my duty to enjoy this moment of embaressment.

"What? You don't have a first name?" She asks, obviously expecting to get an answer.

"It's Ethan. Dr. Knight,"He says, turning to me," You were saying?"

"Oh right, see here?" I ask, pointing to her eyebrow,"I think it might be infected but I'm not sure. I just wanted your opinion." Ethan looks closer and is about to answer me, when,

"Your eyes are the most magnificent coloour! They must be the only pair in the world like that!" Ally exclaimes. Ethan stands up straight.

"Not quite," Ethan says under his breath, but she seems to catch his every word.

"What do you mean?" She questions, suspicious.

"My brother's eyes are the same colour." Ethan answers.

She ends up asking him all sorts of questions about me, although she never guesses that I 'm his brother. We manage to discharge her eventually. She had shoved a piece of paper in Ethan's hand. I can take a guess as to what it was, and I think He could too because without even looking at it he rips it to shreds and lets the bits flutter into the bin. I laugh as he does it, simply because he looks completely creeped out.


	4. Snippet 4 - Car Accident

**Hi! I wrote this because I know there is going to be a car crash in Born Lucky and it just inspired me to write this. P.S. This has nothing to do with the episode.**

Car accident

_Cal's P.O.V_

I blink at the sudden light as I open my eyes. Standing, I look around at an entirely white void.

"What the - ?" I mutter. Then I hear someone laughing. They sound as if they're right infront of me but there's no - one there. That laugh seems awfully familiar, though.

"Ethan?!" I call and I'm about to step forward when there's a sudden bright light. I squint and hold a hand over my eyes, instinctively. Then there's that laugh again. I open my eyes. Someone takes hold of the hand that's infront of my face and lowers it. Ethan's charming grin and sparkling eyes light up infront of me.

"Ethan? Where are we? Why are you acting so strange?" I question, confused. Ethan laughs again only this time it sounds to young to be him. I blink again as suddenly I find myself stood infront of an eight or nine year old Ethan. He giggles.

"Catch me if you can Cal!" He calls as he runs away from me. I blink after him.

"Ethan! Wait, where are you going?!" I call before runnning after him. We run and run, Ethan forever calling for me to chase him. I do as he says, until we come to a road; it must stretch for miles each way. I look up and down the road, suspicious that something bad was going to happen. That's when I see it. A car. Coming down the road. I look at my little (currently very little) brother, he's going to run across the road, he doesn't see the car.

"Ethan! Stop!" I shout desperately as I run with all my might towards him, "Ethan! No! Come back!"

Ethan doesn't stop, he doesn't come back, he doesn't even slow down. The car collides with him and he screams. An ear-piercing scream that rings in my ears. There's another flash of bright light, and suddenly instead of looking at a child-Ethan I'm looking at the Ethan I see everyday. He's covered in blood and he isn't breathing. But before I can react, the whole world shakes, I look at my brother's bloody form only to find that he's gone. The ground trembes.

_I wake with a start as someone nudges me. Groaning, I sit up, rolling my neck to get the crick out of it. I look up to find my little brother looking at me with raised eyebrows. He's wearing his work unifrom and doesn't appear to be injured._

_"Falling asleep at work?" Ethan says with a chuckle,"Why am I not suprised?"_

_I laugh too as I get up. Ethan opens his mouth to say someting else, but I silence him as I pull him close to me. We stay like that for atleast a minute, then I hold him at arms length._

_"I love you, Ethan." I inform him, since I never know when I'll get the next chance, I give him another quick hug before exitng the staffroom. Leaving him in stunned to silence._

**I quite like this one, it was kind of hard to write, but I got there. I hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Snippet 5 - Weirdest Shift Ever

**Hey! I'm finally back with this, it took me forever to think of a plot line (but I got there with help from my friend, charlibear13, you should totally go and check him out). Anyway, here we go...**

_Ethan's P.O.V_

I watch with amusement as Cal shows - what he would think - a pretty women to an empty cubicle. I smirk since she quite obviously isn't interested in him. Leaning aginst one of the counters I watch, laughing silently. After a minute or so Max, Robyn and Lofty all catch on to what I'm doing and decide to come and join me. We're all in our normal clothes since we've just finished our shifts, now we're just waiting for Cal to finish with his last patient.

"So, how did this happen?" Cal asks, a little too casually. She looks at him like she had just been asked to jump off a cliff.

"You don't sound all that bothered matey." She says, quite obviously not wanting to tell him anything. Her voice is extremely deep and we all have to clamp our mouthes shut so as not to laugh. Cal looks at her in sort of defensive way.

"Just trying to help." He huffs. I'm seriously struggling not to laugh now. Cal probably doesn't even like this girl, but he's not going to give up that easy. After a second her facial expression changes,

"Why would you want to help me?" She questions, looking at him quizzically.

"Just doing my job." Cal says, which is kind of a lie. We don't necessarily have to find out how an injury was inflicted upon someone unless we have a concern.

Cal asks the nurse to go and get the pain killers that are prescribed with all head injuries. The nurse gives a little nod and leaves. The four of us look at eachother, which just makes it harder for us to stop laughing. I'm pretty sure Cal has caught on that we're watching him, but - as ever - his confidence doesn't waver. He glances at us with a smug smile, to show us that he wasn't bothered by us.

"Would you like to join me for a drink? It's the end of my shift and there's a pub across the road." Cal offers, but there isn't much meaning behind his voice. Just at that moment the nurse comes back with the pills. The woman snatches them out of her hand and stands up, breezing past Cal and towards the exit. Ignoring Caleb's offer. I can't help but laugh when she stalks past us. Big mistake. She stops, still. Then she snaps round and looks straight at me. She raises her hand and slaps me, suprising everyone. Cal storms over,

"Do you need me to escort you out?" He asks, his voice dark and threatening. It wasn't really a question, he was quite obviously telling her to get lost. This suprises me more than the slap did - Why is Cal so angry? She looks at Cal, not wanting to do as he says but then he scowls menicingly at her. She bounces out of the ED, head heald high. Cal looks at me then, his eyes suprisingly worried.

"Are you ok?" He asks, gently raising a hand and letting it ghost over my bright red cheek. I raise my eyebrows at him. But his face stays serious.

"I'm fine." I say, truthfully. He smiles then heads off to get changed. We stare after him. What was that all about?

That night in the pub was one I won't soon forget. We were all sat round a table - and when I say 'all of us' I mean Me, Cal, Robyn, Max and Lofty, everyone else seemed to have better things to do. That thing with Cal's patient earlier was seriously starting to bug me. Why had Cal cared so much? I mean she only slapped me. It's not like she picked up a scalpel and drove it into my shoulder, then I might have understood Cal being upset. Might have. We all stop talking and seem to be lost in thought for a moment. Suddenly I couldn't stop myself;

"What was that about?" I blurt out suddenly. They look at me as if I'm crazy.

"No one said anything, Ethan." Cal says, sounding kind of worried. The others don't say anything, I'm pretty sure they know what I mean.

"No, I mean earlier. When your 'potential one-night stand' slapped me." I explain, all the while Cal starts to look more and more irritated.

"What do you mean?" He asks, obviously dying to change the subject.

"Well, you did seem pretty upset." Lofty says, we all look at Cal, waiting. He stays silent for a minute, then shrugs.

"You're my little brother of course I'm going to react like that if someone slaps you." Cal says, as if he was always this protective. We all look at him, eyebrows raised. "What? It's true, I love Ethan, he's my little brother." We all blink at him, shocked. "So I'm buying next round?" He asks, standing and going over to the bar. I watch him carefully. When he comes and sits down again, we start what turned out to be a long and rather strange conversation about - believe it or not - why wrapping a blanket round a phone would or wouldn't charge it. Cal smiles at me. A small secret smile. I simply couldn't help smiling back.

**Did you like? I liked writing that's for sure! It took me forever to get this one done. But anyway live a review if you liked, it helps me out more than you know, also if you have any ideas for a Snippet (drabble one-shot, whatever) then leave that in your review too. Or you could always PM me.**

**P.S. I'm not really a Ethan and Lily or Cal and Lily shipper, so it's not really something that I write.**


	6. Snippet 6 - Regretted Arguement

**I have another snippet for you! I REALLY enjoyed writing this one. I hope you enjoy it too. **

It's betting night at the pub. Basically we all get together and challenge eachother, whilst everyone else places bets. But we stop when things get out of hand, mainly thanks to the more responsible people in the pub, like Ethan - although it's not as if he's never excepted a challenge or placed a bet. I'm about to hand over the money for another bet, a bet which I probably shouldn't be placing, when there's a hand on top of mine.

"Caleb Knight. Place that bet and I WILL break your hand. You know I can." The owner of the voice was none other than, my brother, Ethan Hardy. What he says is true, Ethan really could break my hand, if he wanted to. He's never broken MY hand but he broke this really tough kid's hand when we were in high school. I don't doubt that he could do it again now. When he talks like that you KNOW you're in trouble.

"Ethan, you don't need to worry. I haven't placed that many bets." I reason. He raises his eyebrows.

"So ten bets isn't that many?" He says knowingly " especially when you've lost eight of those ten bets?" My blood boils,

"Why can't you just leave me alone?!" I shout. I know Ethan's only looking out for me but I can't help feeling angry. He throws his arms in the air,

"Well excuse me for trying to stop you from getting into massive debt!" Ethan bites back. We glare at eachother. The pub goes quiet. Our stare-outs are something that have become a very well known challenge themselves and people always place the highest bets for them. We've had so many of them - little did I know this is one I won't ever forget. We've been stood, stalk-still for atleast twenty minutes now, yes they really do last that long, and people are starting to chant our names. The entire pub just a whirlwind of 'Ethans' and Cals'.

Suddenly the door bangs open, and the chanting stops. Me and Ethan swing round to look at the doorway. We were expecting to see a drunk man stood there, mumbling to himself. What we hadn't been expecting was a cloaked man, smiling creepily, and holding up... A KNIFE?! Without warning he lunges forward, going straight for Ethan and suddenly everything's in slow-motion. I shout and lunge for Ethan too, ready to push him out of the way, but I'm too late. The blade sinks into Ethan's shoulder, He screams in pain and there are a few other screams and a few gasps, but they seem so distant.

Then everything's in normal speed again, the man picks a bottle up from the bar and smashes it over Ethan's head, knocking him unconscious. Max and Lofty grab the man's shoulders and pull him back pushing him to the floor. He laughs manically as I catch Ethan. Gently lowering Ethan's still form to the floor I try desperately to drown out the sound of the man's laughing. I push down on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding (the man had pulled the knife out).

"Ethan? Ethan, can you hear me?" I ask, loudly. I don't get a reply and I start to panic. There's a hand on my shoulder. I look up to find Rita looking at me.

"Cal, we need to get him to the hospital." She says, her voice calm but firm. Nodding I pull my jacket off. Managing to wrap it round the wound as a temporary bandage I begin to wonder how we're going to get him over there. We can't ring an ambulance, it's too near. Then I get an idea, I push my arms under him and carefully pull myself to my feet. Ethan is suprisingly light, so he's easy to carry. The man is pulled well away from us and Lofty gets his phone to ring the police. Me, Rita and Robyn trek across the road to the hospital, Ethan lying motionless in my arms. My eyes search his face, luckily the bottle didn't do any damage. I feel so guilty, why did I have to argue with him about the bet? He was only trying to stop me from getting into any financial trouble. He looks so innocent, almost as if he fell asleep off his own accord.

Twenty minutes later I find myself sat in the relatives room, waiting. Waiting and hoping. There's nothing I can do. Why did this have to happen? Why did that guy even stab Ethan? Why did he want to stab anyone at all? After thinking for atleast ten minutes I come to the conclusion that the man was mentally unstable. But before I could think about it anymore, Rita and Robyn come in. I stand up and look them expectantly. They smile,

"Come on Cal. He's awake." Rita says, her voice barely above a whisper. I follow them down the hall to a side room, all the while my heart pumping in my chest. Robyn opens the door for me and I smile giving her a small nod in thanks as I pass through. She closes the door behind me, I smile at Ethan, who is currently laid down his, shoulder probably too painful for him to sit up, and he smiles back. I sit down in the chair next to his bed and let out a shakey breath.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, my voice just a rasp.

"No. Cal it's not your, fault. I'm the idiot that got himself stabbed." Ethan jokes, but it doesn't make me laugh, infact it makes me feel worse.

"But if I hadn't argued with you over that bet - "

"Don't be ridiculous Cal, it wouldn't have made a difference." Ethan says sternly and I know not to say anymore about it. But when I look up at him he smiles and puts out his hand. I take it, smiling too. I look at him and think about how painful it would've been if I'd have lost him. My little brother. I stand up, letting go of his hand and wrapping my arms around him. I pull him close and he snuggles into my chest. We stay there, unmoving. Ten minutes later I find that Ethan is asleep, exhausted from the evening's events. I stay rocking him gently back and forth. A small comfort for both of us. I decide then that I'm never going to argue with him over a bet ever again.

**Did you like? I hope so. Review please! Don't be afraid to leave your ideas either.**

**Special thanks to Rebloxic for the idea. - Cale xx**


	7. Snippet 7 - Hostage

**Hey! I FINALLY got this done. It took me forever to write, but don't worry I still have plenty coming (with help from some of my friends) I hope you enjoy, plenty of drama in ths one.**

Snippet 7. Hostage

Well, that's a relief. I'm suprised he was that calm. We - Me and Ethan - only just managed to stop a mentally unstable patient, Terry Maine, from freaking out. It took us all afternoon, but we did it. Smiling triumphantly I go to get changed, since it's the end of my shift, when suddenly a nurse comes rushing round the corner and almost runs straight into me.

"Woah, what's the rush?" I say, just dodging her.

"I'm so sorry. Terry Maine's done runner, he's got a hostage!" She explains quickly.

"What?!" I ask as I run after her.

"We don't know what happened, he just started shouting about a little brother, then he took off." She says hurriedly. This pulls my train of thought to my own little brother, where is he? Is he ok? Following the nurse I end up outside, where many other doctors and nurses are gathered, on the ground and up on a roof. I spot Rita and run over to her.

"Rita what's going on?" I question, confused. She looks at me. She puts her hands on my arms. I look down at her, confused,

"Cal, don't freak out." She says, voice gentle and firm.

"What, what is it?" I ask impatiently.

"It's Ethan." She doesn't have to say anymore before I'm flying up the stairs to the roof. I stop when I reach the top, out of breath. One of the nurses edges towards me,

"Are you his doctor?" She whispers.

"Yes. How's Dr. Hardy?" Asking was stupid. I could see clearly that he wasn't good. He isn't even conscious, Terry must have hit him in the head (to stop him struggling) and he has a massive gash on his forehead. This scared me to no end. But this wasn't the thing that scared me most. Oh no, definitely not. The thing that scared me the most was the fact that a gun is being held against his head. I push down the panic as I edge towards the doctor that is currently trying to keep Terry calm - and not doing a very good job, either.

"Let me try, mate." I whisper. He nods and backs off. I look at my little brother for a moment before addressing Terry,

"Terry, you know all we want to do is help you. So why don't you just put the gun down and come back over here?" I suggest, still trying to keep my panic at bay.

"Or I could just shoot this guy and all of you, then leave?" He counters. I swallow the lump in my throat, I was afraid he'd say something like that.

"I think I prefer my suggestion much more, and I reckon you'd prefer the outcome." I say, just managing to stop my voice from wobbling.

"I don't think I would" Terry retorts defiantly. I let out my breath, shakily. I try to think what I should do when suddenly, inspiration strikes me,

"Terry, you have a little brother. Don't you?" I ask, lightly. He seems to soften. He nods.

"What's his name?" I ask, still careful. He blinks at me, then smiles fondly,

"Tom." He replies. I smile.

"Terry and Tom? Who's older then?"

"I am." Some of the staff seem confused, they don't seem to realise what I'm doing.

"What a coincidence, I'm an older brother too." I say glancing at Ethan,"I'd do anything for my baby brother, what about you?"

"I love my little brother, I'd do anything to protect him." Terry says, confident. A door slams and we all glance back down at the ground, to find two police cars parked. And four policemen heading for the rooftop stairs. Terry becomes instantly wary again. Pushing the gun back to Ethan's head and pulling his arm tighter round his neck.

"Why are they here?!" Terry shouts, back to being aggressive. All talk of little brothers forgotten. I shake my head quickly.

"It's OK, It's OK." I assure quickly," Remember you were saying you'd do anything to protect your little brother?"

He seems to forget the policemen at the mention of Tom.

"Well you might not believe it, but I'm trying to protect my little brother right now." I inform him, looking at Ethan," That is Dr. Ethan Hardy - as you know - and he's MY little brother. I love him with all my heart, and I would be forever grateful if you gave him back to me."

He looks down at Ethan and he suddenly looks like he can't believe what he's done. He looks back at me, tears in his eyes. Loosening his grip on Ethan's neck he gently puts the gun on the floor and kicks it towards me, I smile encouragingly. I'm about to head towards him to check Ethan's head injury when suddenly the police burst out of the stairwell door. Terry reacts badly, he re-tightens his grib on Ethan and suddenly he's holding Ethan's still form over the edge of the roof. It'd kill Ethan if he was dropped from that height. I can barely hold back my sobs as desperate tears start to fall down my face.

"Back off, I'm warning you!" Terry says and the police freeze. A rush of emotion flows through me, a small sob escapes and Terry's attention is brought back to me.

"Please don't," I beg, voice wobbling. He looks at me for a second and he seems to crumple. He lifts Ethan back over the edge and lays him down on the floor. My heart leaps and my arms ache to hold Ethan. Terry backs up and puts his arms up in surrender. The police run over to him and handcuff him, one of them going to pick up the gun. I dart over to my brother and kneel next to his head, I pull him up so his back is against my stomach. With the back of his head on my chest I wrap my arms round his torso and arms, sealing him in. Sobs wrack my body and I bury my face in his blonde hair, wetting it with my tears. I rock us backwards and forwards, thankful that I didn't lose him.

An hour later I'm sat next to a bed in a side room, a place chosen for Ethan to get some rest after an eventful day. My lips twitch upwards as I look at Ethan, remembering when we were younger and I always had to put Ethan to bed, otherwise he'd never get to sleep. I look up when Max comes in,

"There's some one here asking for 'the doctor that calmed Terry Maine down'. I think he's a relative of his."

I stand. Tom. His brother. I look at the stitches on Ethan's forehead, wondering if I should leave him. Max smiles,

"I'll wait here. I'll come and get you if he wakes up." He says, knowingly.

"Cheers mate." I leave and head for reception. When I get there I find what looks like a slightly younger version of Terry, short brown hair, blue eyes, slumping shoulders. He holds out a hand,

"So you must be Caleb, I'm Tom Maine." He introduces, he even sounds like his older brother.

"Yeah, I've heard of you." I say, jokingly.

"Yeah, I heard the story from one of the nurses. Listen, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know it can't have been easy, what with your brother's life in the balance, but you did really well. Thank you for helping my brother." He says, which is nice of him.

"I'm just doing my job, as a brother and as a doctor." I say through a smile. We both head back to our brother's rooms. I smile when I find that Ethan is awake. He grins at me.

"I was wondering where you were." He says, his grin growing bigger. I sit down nex to the bed and Max leaves, but not before I thank him. I turn my attention back to my little brother after the door closes. His grin is still in place.

"What exactly happened?" He asks, I was waiting for that. So I tell him the entire story and by the end of it he looks kind of strange, he opens his mouth, probably to ask for details but I stop him, standing up I wrap my arms around him.

"I didn't lose you and I'm grateful for that." I say, knowing that whatever happens in the future I'll never grow out of the protective soft spot I have for my little brother. Simply because I'm his big brother, and protecting is what big brothers are supposed to do.

**Did you enjoy? I hope so, it was a pain to write. But I like a challenge. Don't be scared to leave any ideas, because they are very likely to be written.**

**Special thanks to for the idea**

**- Cale xx**


	8. Snippet 8 - Big brother, Little brother

Snippet 8 - Big brother, Little brother

_Cal's P.O.V_

Ethan's missing. He has been for a month and a half now. I don't know what to do. I miss him so much. I'm stood, staring at the front enterance of the hospital. People are coming and going, uneffected by the sudden disappereance of one of the hospital's doctors. No - one knows where he is, obviously. He just didn't show up for work one morning and we haven't seen him since. Then I got a call from the police, saying that one of Ethan's neighbours had heard something that sounded like a struggle in the apartement above them; Ethan's. But the police told me something that was like a slap to the face,

"I'm afraid your brother is officially missing."

I'd shouted at them, telling them to get off the phone and get looking for him. I'd shouted at the neighbour, asking them why they hadn't done anything. I'd shouted at almost every member of staff, for one reason or another. But no one shouted back, I always ended up crying after shouting, why did it have to be Ethan that went missing? I often cried now. I just want my little brother back. I close my eyes and pray, wish, hope that he'll come back soon.

I hear a car park behind me, I hear someone get out and close the car door. But I'm too lost in my own world to care. That is until I hear something that makes my heart skip a beat,

"Caleb!" I blink. No, it can't be. Can it? Is it? I turn and stood there is my brother. My little brother. He's covered in cuts and bruises, but he's there. We stare at eachother for a moment. Then suddenly we're rusing towards eachother, running, desperate to get to the other. When we finally reach eachother we stop, taking in the other. We stand for a second or so. Then we throw our arms round eachtoher. Clinging on with all our might, as if we're scared that the other will disappear if we don't hold on tight enough. Thn it sinks in, I have him in my arms, he's back, he's safe. Tears fall from my eyes and I almost choke, trying to keep from sobbing. But then Ethan gives the most heart-wrenching cry that I can't hold it in,

"Oh, Ethan," I sob, rubbing my cheek against his soft blonde hair. He snuggles into me,

"I missed you." He says, making me cry harder,

"I missed you too. Promise me you won't ever do that again, ok?" I request.

"I promise." He says, hidding his face in the crook of my neck.

"I love you, Little brother."

"I love you too, Big brother."


	9. Snippet 9 - Laughter

**I was watching my favourite comedian's show ( Russell Howard ) when I got this idea. It's set a few months after the crash. Hope you enjoy...**

_Cal's P.O.V_

Laughter. That's what has been bothering me for the past few weeks. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. But not just any laughter: _Ethan's _laughter. He hasn't laughed since the accident. It's starting to worry me. If someone tells a joke he'll smile politely, though a laugh doesn't seem able to escape him. Infact it's gotten to the stage where people have starting trying to make him laugh, it's almost a competition. Ethan doesn't really seem to realise it though. Sometimes he looks like he wants to laugh; but can't.

I'm realising to late what it meant to me to hear his laugh. I soon found myself involved in the competition;

_Me and Ethan are in the staffroom, after a long shift. Again. I had managed to get Connie to let us be on the same shifts. I decided to have one last go at making him laugh, determined to be the first to achieve it. _

_"Are you OK?" I ask, softly. I'd expected him to grunt and then I would fire joke after joke at him. But he bursts out laughing, almost as if his laughter has just been bottled up and just needed the right trigger. I blink, I didn't think he would even laugh at a joke,_

_"Did I say something funny?"_

_Ethan throws his arms round my neck, suprising me for the second time. _

_"I'm fine, Cal. I'm so glad you asked." He says, sounding like he's still smiling. I put my arms round him, returning his strangely comforting embrace. He makes little gulping sounds as if he's sobbing, but he's still laughing,_

_"Are you laughing or crying?" I question. _

_"I'm not sure!" He replies, gleefully. We hold eachother tight, silently comforting eachother._

So I won, I felt so proud. It was strange _how_ proud such a small thing made me. I'm just glad that I have my happy little brother back.

**Did you like? Review please! By the way, anyone who wanted a second part to 'Big Brother, Little Brother', you're getting one better. I'm writing it as a story! It's officially in motion, but you may not see the first chapter for a while. Thanks for everything you guys do. - Cale xx**


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